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Canada wins three more rowing golds at Pan Am Games

Adding to Canada’s rowing medal haul on Tuesday were Carling Zeeman, who won the women’s single sculls final; Liz Fenje and Katharine Sauks, who won the women’s lightweight double sculls final; and the men’s quadruple sculls team.

Canadians Liz Fenje, left, and Katherine Sauks celebrate after winning gold in the women's lightweight double sculls at the 2015 Pan Am Games at the Royal Canadian Henley Rowing Course in St. Catharines, Ont., on Tuesday, July 14, 2015. (Peter Power / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Canadian Carling Zeeman celebrates as she crosses the finish line to win gold in the women's single sculls at the 2015 Pan Am Games at the Royal Canadian Henley Rowing Course in St. Catharines, Ont., on Tuesday, July 14, 2015. (Peter Power / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Carling Zeeman, shown in May, led from start to finish in the women’s single sculls final.
(STEVE RUSSELL / TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO)

ST. CATHARINES, ONT. —Canada continued its rowing dominance at the historic Royal Canadian Henley on Tuesday, adding to its Pan Am medal haul with a hat trick of gold medals.

Cambridge’s Carling Zeeman led from start to finish in the women’s single sculls final, before Liz Fenje, of Victoria, B.C., and Katherine Sauks, of Owen Sound, did the same in the women’s lightweight double sculls. Capping the day was another decisive victory by the Canadian men in the quadruple sculls event. Over the last two days Canada has won five gold and two bronze in rowing.

“I think we just have a wicked-fast team right now,” Sauks said, following her race.

Canada has five more chances to medal on Wednesday, the event’s final day of races.

The crowd was once again a factor here on Tuesday with a full grandstand cheering loudly through the final leg of every race.

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Chants of “Let’s Go Car-ling!” rang out as soon as the 24-year-old Zeeman was visible as a tiny speck in the distance, hundreds of metres from the finish line.

“I could hear them,” she said, just moments after winning her race by nearly eight seconds. “That was probably started by my family.”

Zeeman had a large contingent of family and friends in attendance — the Zee-Team, as their colourful headbands and banners proclaimed. “The crowd is just unbelievable,” Zeeman said. “The pain you feel in the last 500 (metres) is pretty excruciating, but it just gives you that extra little adrenalin boost to forget (the pain) for one or two seconds, lets you get your rhythm back and keeps you powering through.”

Just a few minutes after celebrating Zeeman’s gold, the crowd was stirred once again by Fenje and Sauks, who finished the 2,000-metre race in a new personal best time of six minutes and 57 seconds.

“It’s hard to explain how wonderful it is,” Sauks said. “Those last 500 metres your legs are burning pretty hard and you just listen to the cheers and go.”

After a couple of disappointing finishes in the men’s lightweight double sculls and men’s coxless pairs, the quadruple sculls team — who led after the preliminary race — got out to an early lead and were able to hold off a strong Cuban team to earn the day’s final gold medal.

Like the women, the men mentioned the emotional boost from the crowd.

“You know you only have to race the first 1,250 (metres), because the last 750 is going to be covered by the crowd, calling you home,” said Matthew Buie, of Duntroon, Ont., who was joined by Julien Bahain, who grew up in France, but was born to a Canadian mother and now lives in Sherbrooke, Que.; Will Dean, of Kelowna, B.C.; and Rob Gibson, of Kingston, Ont.

“Goosebumps,” Bahain said, succinctly, of the crowd’s effect. “You just want to do more. It’s like a flush of adrenalin in the body.”

With more races tomorrow, Bahain said there wouldn’t be much celebrating on Tuesday. “Tonight is going to be pasta, stay in bed and make sure we bring more medals tomorrow.”

But the men also have their sights set on a bigger goal. This was their last race before the world championships, which serve as the Olympic qualifier. “We’ll celebrate after Rio 2016,” Dean said.

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